This Blueberry Lemon Galette features beautifully plump blueberries dotted over a tart vanilla lemon cream cheese filling. This gorgeous summer filling sits between rustic pleats of flaky buttery pie crust. If you’re looking for an amazing flavor combination – Look no further, boo. I got you.
I have a confession to make.
Summer has not been my favorite season.
*Gasp!*
Put down your torch and pitchfork. Or your floppy hat and margarita, depending on how you summer or put together angry mobs. Chill.
For a long time – Since my teens actually, summer had ceased to be my favorite season. I dunno. It’s not that I don’t enjoy or look forward to warm weather days – I do – It’s that summer had kinda lost its sheen. Maybe because summer was so short, or perhaps because I had a few shitty summers. Whatever the case, summer was just… Another season.
Until this year.
Until the trees blossomed this spring and everything took on a rich green hue. Greener than I’ve ever seen it. I felt as if I were living with a wool over my eyes and it was suddenly pulled. And I could see. I became more appreciative of my days; of colors inherent in warm seasons. I began appreciating summer again. The richness in the air, the scent of earth, the warmth in my skin, the sun beaming on my face.
Shit done changed on a sista – And I value every second of it.
Now can we talk about blueberries and free form pie situations? Flow with me, boo – It’s about to get real sweet and tart up in this piece.
Galette. What is it? Glad you asked, homeslice. A galette is a free form tart. I like to call it pie for the lazy folk. Summer is about slowing down, about lazy days. It’s about living imperfectly delicious in this world. This galette promises that. And more.
It starts with sugared blueberries. I used to call them macerated blueberries – But macerating means fruit breaks down and releases juices with the addition of sugar. This doesn’t happen so much with blueberries. And so we’re just adding sugar and vanilla bean to give them a bit of nuance.
Now comes a quick pie dough; a pie dough that takes about 5 minutes to make in your food processor. 5 minutes, boo. For real.
And finally a lemon cream cheese filling. Holy crap – This filling! Cream cheese, squeezed lemon juice, zest, and vanilla bean paste. It is luscious. Try not to eat it all with a spoon. I did. Then I had to start over.
So everything is prepped, right? Now pie dough is rolled and spread with the lemon/vanilla cream cheese try SO HARD not to eat. It’s topped with blueberries. Finally pie dough is pleated and folded over this scrumptious filling and brushed with beaten egg. Is it perfect? No. Is it a work of art nonetheless? Yes.
The hardest part is waiting for it to come out of the oven. No. It’s waiting for it to cool slightly. But when it does – And it will – You WILL take a hearty bite of it. You will learn in that bite what appreciating life really means. What appreciating summer bounty really means. It means this galette.
Get your summer on.
[purerecipe]
Ingredients
For the blueberries
- 1 dry pint Very plump blueberries
- 2 tablespoons Granulated sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon Vanilla bean paste
For the pie crust
- 1 ¼ cup All-purpose flour spoon then leveled
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 ½ tablespoons Granulated sugar
- ½ cup 1 stick Unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½ inch cubes
- 3-4 tablespoons Ice water
- 1 egg beaten
For the Lemon cream cheese filling
- 4 ounces half a package Full fat cream cheese
- ½ cup Confectioners’ sugar
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- Prepare the blueberries:
- In a small bowl combine the blueberries, sugar, and vanilla bean paste. Give it a nice toss with a fork until the sugar is incorporated. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make the pie crust:
- About an hour before you plan to make your pie crust, place the butter cubes in the freezer. The colder the butter, the better your chances of achieving a nice flaky crust.
- Once your butter is sufficiently chilled – Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. I have one of those itty bitty ones for this purpose. Pulse about 5 times until flour, salt, and sugar are combined. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 12-14 pulses total. You should be left with quite a few pea size pieces of butter. And that is cool.
- Remove ice from your water, if any – And add 2 tablespoons of water to the food processor and plus 2-3 times. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing with each addition. The mixture should just barely clump together at this point, yet have a crumbly look to it. Test by pinching some of the dough and if it comes together, then it’s ready to use. If not, keep adding one tablespoon of water at a time, giving it 2-3 pulses each time. I’ve made this crust many times and it’s never taken more than 4 tablespoons of water. Make sure you don’t add too much; otherwise your crust won’t be flaky.
- Turn the crumbly dough over a lightly flour surface and gather it into a rough circle. Handle the dough as carefully as possible so as not to activate too much gluten which can toughen your pie crust. Your pie crust should be dotted with gorgeous pieces of butter. Trust. That is a great thing. You did it right, boo. Lightly sprinkle flour over surface of the dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour to chill. If using the dough another day, place in the freezer. When ready to use, defrost it in the refrigerator overnight. Dough keeps well in the freezer for about a month. While dough is chilling, make the lemon cream cheese filling.
- Make the lemon cream cheese filling:
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla bean paste. Mix until the cream cheese has softened and ingredients are fully combined. Wrap the surface of the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Assemble and bake the galette:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set a large cookie sheet on your counter. Tape the corners of a rectangular sheet of parchment paper on your counter and lightly flour it.
- Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and turn it over the lightly floured rectangle of parchment paper. Lightly sprinkle the top with flour and with a rolling pin, roll a circle that’s roughly 12-14 inches in diameter and about 1/8 of an inch thick, giving the dough a quarter turn as you roll. To make sure the dough doesn’t stick underneath, lift the dough every couple of turns and lightly sprinkle with flour underneath as needed. If your circle doesn’t turn out perfect, that is OK. We’re not going for perfection here. Place the dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes or so (sometimes life or a Modern Family rerun happens) remove the pie dough, lemon cream cheese filling, and blueberries from the fridge. Spoon the cream cheese in the center of the pie dough, and spread it with a small offset spatula or a spoon, leaving about a 2 inch border. Sprinkle the blueberries and any juices that accumulated over the lemon cream cheese, patting the blueberries down a bit. Fold the border over the blueberry/lemon cream cheese mixture, pleating the edges as best you can. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect. The middle of the galette should remain open. Remove tape from sides of parchment paper and carefully transfer the parchment with the prepared galette onto the cookie sheet. Brush the edges of the galette with beaten egg. Place cookie sheet in the oven and bake until the blueberries are bursting and bubbling - And the edges are a nice golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
- Remove galette from the oven and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.
- Makes about 6 servings.